BooksBarbecue
Back A Train to Moscow: A Novel Save as PDF
Chapters (59)
  1. TITLE PAGE
  2. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  3. DEDICATION
  4. CONTENTS
  5. ACT 1 IVANOVO
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. ACT 2 MOSCOW
  24. 18
  25. 19
  26. 20
  27. 21
  28. 22
  29. 23
  30. 24
  31. 25
  32. 26
  33. 27
  34. ACT 3 LENINGRAD
  35. 28
  36. 29
  37. 30
  38. 31
  39. 32
  40. 33
  41. 34
  42. 35
  43. 36
  44. 37
  45. ACT 4 IVANOVO-LENINGRAD
  46. 38
  47. 39
  48. 40
  49. 41
  50. 42
  51. 43
  52. 44
  53. 45
  54. 46
  55. 47
  56. 48
  57. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  58. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
  59. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Her mother looks at Sasha, her eyes like broken glass. “You’re wrong. I am proud of you,” she says quietly. “I’ve always been proud.” She swipes under her eyes, stifling tears. “It’s just that theater is so chaotic, so unruly. I’ve always wanted you to have an easy life, not like mine or Grandma’s. A warless life, a life of peace we didn’t have. A life of order.”

She waits for Sasha’s response, for some indication that she is open to normalcy, her sunny, righteous mother, as down-to-earth as Grandpa, who still believes what he hears on the radio, who refuses to look out the window and see there is no bright dawn on the horizon.

“I don’t want order, and I don’t want a peaceful life,” Sasha snarls back. “Let Andrei and his wife live this life of regiment and calm and hope for a bright tomorrow. I don’t want any more lies, any more pretense.” She knows her voice is on a steady ascent to shouting heights, but she does nothing to restrain the anger rising in her throat.

“Then tell me, what do you want?” her mother asks.

“I want you to leave me alone!” she yells. “Stop lecturing me. I’m not your student. I want you to stop waving flags for a minute and look around. I want you to stop pretending that everything is fine, stop making excuses for the mess we’re in.” She sharpens her voice like a knife. “This isn’t Ivanovo. We live in a country full of hypocrites and bandits, and of people like Grandpa and you, true believers, who have survived Stalin only because he was too busy murdering the other twenty million.” She pauses to take a breath, to ready herself for the final blow. “If you can’t empty yourself of this crap, of this toxic provincial thinking, you may as well go back to Ivanovo and tend to the chickens.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees her mother hunched over the table.

“I have a rehearsal to go to,” she says and gets up, leaving her mother alone with the anguish and pain and the newly made kotlety.

34

34

The new play is called The Dawns Here Are Quiet, five women commandeered by a young male sergeant, a tiny regiment operating near the front line during the Great Patriotic War. Although it’s a Soviet play, Sasha can relate to the material better than any other contemporary play so far. Lara is the tall, acerbic Zhenya who comes from Moscow, and she is Liza, the daughter of a peasant from a small village.